Six tips for climbing out of Bronze rank in League of Legends

William Davis Published 07/01/2020

League of Legends Season 10 will officially start on January 10 and players are asking themselves the same question: How can I rank up?

This guide includes six tips that will help you improve as a League of Legends player once the ranked season starts. It won’t be easy and nothing is guaranteed, so buckle up and get ready for another season of play.

1. Be patient with your games

It sounds like a bit of obvious advice, but most players are ready to rage quit the second someone steals a minion from them. There is a reason why Bronze and Iron are considered “elo hell”, this is a zone populated in part by internet trolls. Chances are that your teammates are not taking the climb as seriously as you, so take a deep breath and prepare yourself for it.

Pointing out the mistakes of your teammates and sending question mark pings will not help you nor the other player. Asking someone to play better won’t automatically give them mechanical skills or even common sense. Engaging in that type of conversation is counterproductive for everyone, even for the player that is trolling.

Take another deep breath and focus on your own game. Help the team as much as you can, help the troll if they need it. There are more than enough toxic players in the community, that is a club that you should not be joining.

2. Learn your best roles

When you’re trying to climb the ladder, the most important part is to have a main role and a secondary role. You should be able to play your main role at a good level and be competent at the secondary role. To do so, you must understand your responsibilities on the team. Once you pick a role, it is time to build a champion pool.

At the lower elo levels, the players should have a champion pool that includes two to five champions. More than five is too many, and being a one-trick is not advisable. Stick to a smaller champion pool and as you get better at the game, you can start adding more champions.

In the current state of game, it is possible to flex a single champion into two different roles. For example, if you’re a main top laner and secondary jungler, Jax is a viable option for both roles. Irelia, Jayce, and Akali can be played in top lane and mid lane. If you master a champion that can be flexed, it will be easier to climb from different positions.

Once you find the champions that work for you, learn as much about them as you possibly can. There are dozens of websites that teach the most optimal builds and runes for the champions in every patch. Some of these sites also include the runes and builds preferred by the pro players. A common mistake is to pick a rune tree and build without really knowing what it does for the champion.

Take time to learn what it is that your champion needs. Some champions need more cooldown reduction, while others are more mana-hungry. In either case, you need an optimal build and set of runes that provide you with the resources that your champion requires. If you want to be able to carry a team of Iron players, you need to be an expert on your role and champion. It takes time and effort, but it will be worth it.

3. Focus on farming

Once you pick a role and find the perfect champions for you, it’s time to farm. Farming is one skill that not many Bronze and Iron players learn, but it’s perhaps the most important. Good farm equals gold, and gold turn into more items. There are no shortcuts when it comes to learning how to farm, so prepare yourself to work on it.

10 minutes into the game, the laners should have at least 100 CS, anything lower than that is suboptimal. The practice tool is available if you want to practice your farming. Take ten minutes to farm so you feel more comfortable in-game.

4. Establish vision around the map

The next step is to improve your vision of the map. Most players forget that they get free wards every couple of minutes. Identify the spots where you need warding according to the role that you are playing and place some wards. Having vision on the map is the best way to avoid enemy ganks and surprise attacks.

Make a habit of purchasing control wards every time you get back to the base. A control ward only costs 75 gold and will stay in place until an enemy takes it down or you place a new one somewhere else.

5. Communicate with your teammates

Contrary to popular opinion, the chat box is not a place to express your frustration and anger. It is a tool so you can communicate with your teammates. Communicating effectively with your teammates is a real game changer.

What should you communicate? Everything! If your opponent burns a spell, tell your jungler so they know when to gank. If the enemy is missing, let your teammates know because they might be about to get ganked.

Whenever you’re moving to another lane, notify that you’re on your way. If you need help, ask for it. Warn your teammates about the enemies that might be coming their way. Communicate with your team so everyone is on the same page.

Avoid negative communication, insulting your teammates is a waste of time. If you’re the one getting insulted, just mute them and keep playing. Remember, being patient is the most important part of the journey out of Bronze.

If you’ve turned off your chat to avoid toxicity, you should still communicate with pings. League of Legends has a great ping system that allows you to do everything from warning teammates that your opposing laner is missing to indicating that your ultimate ability is still on cooldown.

6. Don’t fight without a reason

As you grow confident in the game, you might feel tempted to more frequently engage in the most fun parts of the game: the fights. Mastering a champion is all you need to get in a good old fashioned one versus two, right?

Wrong! You should avoid getting into unnecessary fights at all costs.

Team fights should be a meaning to an end. What can you get on the map if you win a team fight? If the answer is nothing, then you probably should not get into that fight. Chasing an enemy across the map is not the best way to invest your time. Every second that you spend on that chase, you’re losing experience and gold somewhere else.

Stay focused on what truly matters: the objectives. The team that is winning the game should not be the one forcing the team fights. Let the enemies come to you, as players are most likely to make mistakes when they’re losing.

If you’re the one losing, then you should probably start some fights, but only under certain conditions: